Jay-Z Course at Georgetown Gets Mixed Reviews
Jay-Z, known for his rhyming skills and business sense, is now a college course.
Michael Eric Dyson, renowned author and professor, has brought a course centered on the rapper to Georgetown University. In a USA Today report, Dyson explained why he chose to focus his collegiate level course on the rapper.
"It just happens to have an interesting object of engagement in Jay-Z - and what better way to meet people where they are?" Dyson said. "It's like Jesus talking to the woman at the well. You ask for a drink of water, then you get into some theological discussions."
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However, some do not agree that the rapper is worthy of creating an entire college course around. Kris Marsh, an assistant sociology professor at the University of Maryland, said there are issues
"We're not sure if it's fiction or real life. It can be almost indistinguishable sometimes in hip-hop," she said.
Stephen Wu, one student at Georgetown, wrote an opinion piece in the college newspaper about opposing the course.
“It speaks volumes that we engage in the beat of Carter's pseudo-music while we scrounge to find serious academic offerings on Beethoven and Liszt,” Wu wrote in the piece. “We dissect the lyrics of Big Pimpin', but we don't read Spenser or Sophocles closely.”
However, Dyson maintained his stance on teaching the class by saying, "I think he's an icon of American excellence," in USA Today reports.
The professor's course features both midterm and final examinations, and mandatory reading of works like Jay-Z's Decoded book. Dyson said Jay-Z spoke to him about being the topic of conversation in the class.
"You're doing the class there," Jay-Z said. "I'm doing kind of the master class while I'm in concert."
